Inspired by a Block of Cheese

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I knew that I needed to write something for my blog soon, but I couldn’t find a topic. Usually a subject is running through my mind for a while before I write it up, but this time I had nothing. It was a Saturday, and I didn’t have anything pressing that I needed to do, but just sitting around doing nothing tends to discourage me. It makes me feel like I’m wasting my time, not to mention that when that happens, I’m generally bored as well. So, it wasn’t my greatest day. Not terrible, just not the best. (And before I quit complaining, let me add that I was exhausted as well).

A Cheesy Lesson

Late afternoon rolled around, and my mom asked me to grate some cheese for dinner prep. I hate shredding cheese. For some reason, it’s just one of those jobs that grates me. ;) Even so, I grabbed the block of mozzarella and began scraping the cheese over the blade.

Mozzarella happens to be a soft cheese, and some pieces would bend and rip away from the block, forcing me to take those broken chunks and slide them over the blade. It required more pressure than grating from a larger section and posed more of a risk of shredding the skin off my fingertips as well.

As I pressed one of these broken pieces to the blade and slid it down, a thought flitted through my mind.

“I can’t do this.”

A split-second later, another thought flashed in. “I’m just being lazy.” The thought, “I can’t do this,” disgusted me. How lazy do I have to be to think I can’t grate cheese?

And suddenly, I had a blog post.

Cheese Blocks

How many times have you sat down to write and thought, “I can’t do it?”

How many times have you not opened a word processor, not even sat down, not even tried to write something that’s on your heart because you think, “I can’t”?

Is it really because you can’t? Or is it laziness? Maybe you’re discouraged. Maybe you’re physically, mentally, emotionally, or even spiritually exhausted. Maybe you’re afraid to write something stupid. Maybe you’ve been comparing your work to other peoples’. But is it really because you can’t?

Maybe you call it “no inspiration” or “writer’s block.” Or is that writer’s block a block of cheese that you can learn from? What if it’s something that you can turn into a piece of work (like a blog post)?

Saying “I can’t” before you try is taking the easy way out. It’s a band-aid excuse for probable underlying problems.

My real problem with shredding cheese was 1) I hate the job, 2) I was exhausted, and 3) I wasn’t having the world’s greatest day. It wasn’t that the job was too much, and it certainly wasn’t that I couldn’t do it.

What is your cheese block? What will it take to shred it?

Maybe you’re discouraged with your work and you need to step back from it for a while and take a break. (Finding Purpose When You Feel You Have None) (When Writing Feels Like a Dragon) (When You Hate Your Novel)

Maybe you’re overly tired, and writing shouldn’t be your priority right now. Get some rest. (When You Hate Your Novel)

Maybe you’re afraid. But it’s okay to write poorly because you’re learning. (When Writing Feels Like a Dragon) (Honest Confessions and a Writing Challenge)

Maybe comparison gets you down, but no one can tell your story like you can. (Comparison is the Thief of Joy) (When Writing Feels Like a Dragon)

Maybe you truly don’t have any ideas. But how can you use that cheese block and spin it into something inspiring, no matter how cheesy the result might be? No one needs to know that mozzarella inspired your latest blog post.

Go find your cheese and shred it. And I’ll quit my cheesy puns. ;)

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What is your cheese block? What will it take to shred it?

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